The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)

A look at the seven emotional systems of the brain by the researcher who discovered them. What makes us happy? What makes us sad? How do we come to feel a sense of enthusiasm? What fills us with lust, anger, fear, or tenderness? Traditional behavioral and cognitive neuroscience have yet to provide satisfactory answers. The Archaeology of Mind presents an affective neuroscience approach—which takes into consideration basic mental processes, brain functions, and emotional behaviors that all mammals share—to locate the neural mechanisms of emotional expression. It reveals—for the first time—the deep neural sources of our values and basic emotional feelings. This book elaborates on the seven emotional systems that explain how we live and behave. These systems originate in deep areas of the brain that are remarkably similar across all mammalian species. When they are disrupted, we find the origins of emotional disorders: - SEEKING: how the brain generates a euphoric and expectant response - FEAR: how the brain responds to the threat of physical danger and death - RAGE: sources of irritation and fury in the brain - LUST: how sexual desire and attachments are elaborated in the brain - CARE: sources of maternal nurturance - GRIEF: sources of non-sexual attachments - PLAY: how the brain generates joyous, rough-and-tumble interactions - SELF: a hypothesis explaining how affects might be elaborated in the brain The book offers an evidence-based evolutionary taxonomy of emotions and affects and, as such, a brand-new clinical paradigm for treating psychiatric disorders in clinical practice. What makes us happy? What makes us sad? How do we come to feel a sense of enthusiasm? What fills us with lust, anger, fear, or tenderness? Traditional behavioral and cognitive neuroscience have yet to provide satisfactory answers. The Archaeology of Mind presents an affective neuroscience approach which takes into consideration basic mental processes, brain functions, and emotional behaviors that all mammals share to locate the neural mechanisms of emotional expression. It reveals for the first time the deep neural sources of our values and basic emotional feelings. This book elaborates on the seven emotional systems that explain how we live and behave. These systems originate in deep areas of the brain that are remarkably similar across all mammalian species. When they are disrupted, we find the origins of emotional disorders: - SEEKING: how the brain generates a euphoric and expectant response - FEAR: how the brain responds to the threat of physical danger and death - RAGE: sources of irritation and fury in the brain - LUST: how sexual desire and attachments are elaborated in the brain - CARE: sources of maternal nurturance - GRIEF: sources of non-sexual attachments - PLAY: how the brain generates joyous, rough-and-tumble interactions - SELF: a hypothesis explaining how affects might be elaborated in the brain The book offers an evidence-based evolutionary taxonomy of emotions and affects and, as such, a brand-new clinical paradigm for treating psychiatric disorders in clinical practice. Cover 2 Half title 3 Title 5 Dedication 6 Contents 7 Preface and Acknowledgments 8 Foreword 17 Chapter 1 Ancestral Passions 20 Chapter 2 The Evolution of Affective Consciousness: Studying Emotional Feelings in Other Animals 46 Chapter 3 The SEEKING System: Brain Sources of Eager Anticipation, Desire, Euphoria, and the Quest for Everything 73 Chapter 4 The Ancestral Sources of RAGE 100 Chapter 5 The Ancestral Roots of FEAR 116 Chapter 6 Beyond Instincts: Learning and the Affective Foundations of Memory 131 Chapter 7 LUSTful Passions of the Mind: From Reproductive Urges to Romantic Love 154 Chapter 8 Nurturing Love: The CARE System 175 Chapter 9 Born to Cry: The PANIC/GRIEF System and the Genesis of Life-Sustaining Social Bonds 191 Chapter 10 PLAYful Dreamlike Circuits of the Brain: The Ancestral Sources of Social Joy and Laughter 213 Chapter 11 Toward a Neurobiology of the Soul: The Core SELF and the Genesis of Primary-Process Feelings 234 Chapter 12 Brain Emotional Systems and Affective Qualities of Mental Life: From Animal Affects to Human Psychotherapeutics 253 Chapter 13 Philosophical Reflections and Complaints: Can We Go From Mice to Men and Back Again? 280 References 295 Index 316 Copyright 336 Jaak Panskepp's lifework has revealed that all mammalian brains are composed of seven common emotional systems - seeking, lust, rage, fear, care, grief and play. This book provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the way in which these common systems guide emotional life in all mammals, including humans.